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Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami l Summary & Study Guide
This study guide includes the following sections: Plot Summary, Chapter Summaries & Analysis, Characters, Objects/Places, Themes, Style, Quotes, and Topics for Discussion.
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First published September 7, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
October 1, 2012
Typical Murakami. 3 seemingly diverse stories delicately and slowly being weaved into a whole large picture altogether. I could feel and breathe the forest that Kafka explored, feel Nakata's pain, and feel every single emotion running through the teacher's mind on the day of the incident. not halfway through yet, but really really love the book already.
October 17, 2014
If Charlie Parker and Salvador Dali combined their visions into words– Murakami would be their child.
May 11, 2012
This was the most exciting book I've read since 'The Hobbit'! The imagery and emotional highs and lows sent me on such a journey, everything around me melted away!
It was like eating a wonderful meal that was satisfying but didn't make me too full!!
Murakami has a way of writing that can put me in a trance-like state that is a special experience.
It was like eating a wonderful meal that was satisfying but didn't make me too full!!
Murakami has a way of writing that can put me in a trance-like state that is a special experience.
November 7, 2015
Beautifully written, but is this book strange for the sake of being strange? My first Murakami book and I'm not sure where I will brave another!
June 21, 2025
Haruki Murakami’s Kafka on the Shore is an intricate emotional puzzle, one that reveals deeper truths the more you sit with it. For me, this book was about abandonment as a recurring wound, repeated across lifetimes.
My own interpretation is that Miss Saeki, frozen in grief after the tragic death of her young lover during the university riots, later gives birth to Kafka, who is the reincarnation of that very lover. Unable to cope with the unbearable memory of being left behind she abandons him just as she once felt abandoned when her young love died. It’s not out of cruelty, but as if she is passing on her wound ensuring he carries the same pain she could never escape.
The novel asks: What happens to pain that goes unhealed? It lingers, it loops, it reincarnates. And through Kafka and Miss Saeki, we witness the emotional unresolved love and grief and eventually, the forgiveness that sets them both free.
A deeply moving, strange, and unforgettable book.
My own interpretation is that Miss Saeki, frozen in grief after the tragic death of her young lover during the university riots, later gives birth to Kafka, who is the reincarnation of that very lover. Unable to cope with the unbearable memory of being left behind she abandons him just as she once felt abandoned when her young love died. It’s not out of cruelty, but as if she is passing on her wound ensuring he carries the same pain she could never escape.
The novel asks: What happens to pain that goes unhealed? It lingers, it loops, it reincarnates. And through Kafka and Miss Saeki, we witness the emotional unresolved love and grief and eventually, the forgiveness that sets them both free.
A deeply moving, strange, and unforgettable book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 13, 2024
A surreal journey of fate, dreams, and strange occurrences, this novel from Murakami blends reality and the fantastical seamlessly. It’s filled with his trademark oddities—a talking cat, a metaphysical storm—that make it both mind-bending and unforgettably unique.
January 3, 2026
Omläsning av Kafka på Stranden. Gillar den även denna gång även om jag bitvis förstår rätt lite. Vad vill Murakami säga? Varför tar sig Kafka ut på detta äventyr? Dock väldigt behagligt språk och behaglig värld att vistas i.
October 3, 2022
Is it the same as Kafka on the shore?
Read
November 22, 2022Excellent as all Murakami's books are!
November 24, 2012
I wanted to give this book five stars, I was entirely enchanted with its dream like feel, movements of place and time, and overall character development. However, I felt it got a little too dream like towards the end, and pieces of the story began to float into the ether for me.
June 14, 2012
Plenty of intrigue along the way, but too little pay-off to make the journey worthwhile.
December 6, 2012
stunning and mind bending!
February 22, 2014
I was so disappointed when the story finished and i so look forward to discussing it in out reading group :)
May 9, 2014
Highly recommend for the very interesting characters, their lives, music.books,philosophy.
Extremely complex but surely worthwhile .
Extremely complex but surely worthwhile .
Read
November 4, 2014I am really starting to dig the author's style of writing, and his stories of self discovery.
October 28, 2015
Rating 3.5.
October 6, 2015
Fascinating read.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews